Mission 272
Innovation has been the most defining feature of Narendra Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. While often Innovation is attributed to the use of technology it must be said that Narendra Modi’s 2014 campaign innovated on multiple fronts beyond the use of technology.
Crowdsourcing
2014 can be described as India’s first open sourced election in many ways. Narendra Modi set the tone for this crowdsourcing when he first called for inputs for an upcoming speech via Facebook. In July last year, weeks after he was declared the BJP’s Campaign Committee chairman, Narendra Modi addressed a gathering of students at the Fergusson College, Pune. Ahead of the speech at Fergusson College, Narendra Modi sought inputs for his speech on Facebook.
The trend of crowdsourcing for the 2014 campaign was off to a start with thousands of comments pouring in. The next big speech that Narendra Modi sought crowdsourced inputs on Facebook was for his Hyderabad Rally in the first week of August 2013. Narendra Modi’s Hyderabad speech in many ways reflected the concerns and anxieties expressed by citizens of both regions when he issued the clarion call for a win-win solution to both regions with the slogan – “Jai Telangana, Jai Seemandhra”.
One of the most engaging Crowdsourced Campaigns during the 2014 race was the “Mere Sapno ka Bharat” initiative where Citizens were encouraged to record short videos on the India of their dreams. “Mere Sapno Ka Bharat” led by Smriti Irani went to college campuses across India and encouraged youth to share their ideas, the best of which made it to a Video Wall on the India272+ Platform.
Branding
From NaMo tea stalls to NaMo mobile phones, from saree shops to sweet shops and from neck-tags, stickers, caps to sun-shades on cars, brand NaMo was to be seen everywhere through the 2014 Campaign. While much of the Branding of Merchandise around the persona of Narendra Modi was an independent phenomena, there was conscious branding by the BJP of each of Narendra Modi’s rallies in a unique way to make an impact on voters.
The most impactful brand to emerge through the 2014 campaign, however, was the persona of the Chaiwallah almost entirely from independent efforts by ordinary street corner shops and vendors. Mani Shankar Aiyer’s Chaiwallah taunt and various intemperate remarks by assorted politicians from the SP and the JDU in UP and Bihar contributed tremendously to this groundswell of branding efforts taking various creative forms across India.
Chai pe Charcha
A remote Town Hall format was for the first time attempted during the 2014 Lok Sabha Campaign by the BJP with the introduction of the campaign innovation titled “Chai pe Charcha” . Across thousands of tea-stalls in India, a two way interactive digital experience was enabled through a combination of technologies – DTH, video conferencing and mobile broadband. Over a cup of tea, Narendra Modi interacted with people across India on issues such as agriculture and women empowerment. The Charchas were held across 4000 locations in 24 States in various rounds. Internationally, it was held across 50 locations in 15 countries. Almost 10 lakh people joined the Charchas.
Chai-pe-Charcha was a disruptive innovation during this campaign season in its ability to connect with a mass audience for an interactive dialogue without relying on mainstream media. It created a hybrid experience between the populist discourse of a mass rally and the deliberative discourse of a Town Hall while connecting audiences across India with Narendra Modi.
3D Holographic Rallies
The mega innovation during the 2014 Lok Sabha Campaign was the extensive use of 3D Holographic Projections to hold hundreds of simultaneous public meetings at venues across India. Narendra Modi is the pioneer in the use of 3D holography in election campaigning. He had used this technology during the 2012 Gujarat election. During the 2014 Campaign, Narendra Modi took the use of 3D holography to a whole new level with over 12 speeches delivered across 1,350 venues during the months of April and May 2014.
The 3D rallies were a mega hit as Narendra Modi himself wrote in his blog on the ecstatic response he received from voters across India.
"So many youngsters wrote to me on mail and social media ‘thanking’ me for coming to their village. People told our Karyakartas- we want to meet Modi ji on stage…such was the buzz these rallies generated."
3D Technology gave Narendra Modi the ability to transport both his persona and his message to hundreds of locations simultaneously thus reaching out to constituencies and cities/towns where he personally could not campaign despite his 46-day Bharat Vijay marathon.
A Digital Eco-system
Three digital Innovations that emerged from this ecosystem were game-changers during the campaign. The first was the creation of a single nationwide toll free number that could be used by BJP supporters across India to give a Missed Call or to send a SMS or a WhatsApp message as means to get involved the campaign. A further innovation in the use of SMS was NaMoNumber that gamified volunteering in a manner never envisioned before. The NaMoNumber was the number of pledges of support a Volunteer could solicit from voters in his or her constituency by getting them to SMS their EPIC (VoterID number). NaMoNumber thus not just helped solicit pledges of support but did so in an actionable manner that made “Get out the Vote” (GOTV) efforts real-time, targetted and efficient. Candidates in many constituencies benefitted from the use of NaMoNumber to get out the vote in a targeted manner at the booth level. A third innovation was the use of a nationwide toll number that allowed a wider audience to dial-in and listen to Narendra Modi’s speeches without being dependence on Internet Access or TV Coverage.
Together these digital innovations made a crucial difference to the campaign over the past eight months. This campaign will be remembered for path breaking innovation.